Business headlines have warned of a potential “chilling effect on buyouts” as a result of the decision recently issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in In re: Nine West LBO Securities Litigation (Dec. 4, 2020). Contrary to the views of some other commentators on the decision, we do not believe that the decision is likely to chill leveraged buyout activity, to upend how LBOs have been conducted, or to significantly increase the potential of liability for target company directors selling the company in an LBO.
A recent ruling from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York sent shock waves through the legal and financial community, with some shouting that this “could be a gamestopper for the private equity business.”1 Although the ruling in In re Nine West LBO Securities Litigation2 breaks new ground and arguably narrows the protections available to directors under the normally-broad business judgment rule, there are clear lessons others can take from this saga to prevent a similar fate.
Elizabeth McColm and Brian Bolin, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
This is an extract from the 2021 edition of GRR's The Americas Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit made headlines when it ruled that creditors' state law fraudulent transfer claims arising from the 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") of Tribune Co. ("Tribune") were preempted by the safe harbor for certain securities, commodity or forward contract payments set forth in section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code. In In re Tribune Co. Fraudulent Conveyance Litig., 946 F.3d 66 (2d Cir. 2019), petition for cert. filed, No. 20-8-07102020, 2020 WL 3891501 (U.S.
Kon Asimacopoulos and Kai Zeng, Kirkland & Ellis
This is an extract from the second edition of GRR's The Art of the Ad Hoc. The whole publication is available here.
Introduction
Monika Lorenzo-Perez and Sabina Khan, Brown Rudnick
This is an extract from the second edition of GRR's The Art of the Ad Hoc. The whole publication is available here.
Status and relationship of an ad hoc committee with indenture trustees
In the wake of the economic stress created by COVID-19, we have seen increased opportunities for buyers looking to acquire distressed companies and assets in Canada. Increased deal flow in industry sectors that have been hit hardest by COVID-19, including retail, hospitality, travel, cannabis, and oil and gas has occurred, and with the passage of time other sectors will be affected.
I.OVERVIEW
(a)What are SPACs?
As interest rates remain relatively low and financial liquidity levels remain high, investors with a higher risk appetite will continue to find increased opportunities with distressed assets. In Brazil, these have already reinvigorated the trend of M&As in Q3 of 2020.
A revigorated trend
一、概述
1、不寻常的SPAC
SPAC（“Special Purpose Acquisition Company”）是上市公司投资工具，也被称为 “空头支票”或 “空壳公司”。 SPAC由在投资、财务和企业管理领域具有丰富经验的专业人士作为发起人设立，其设立目的是在某些行业或地域中收购某个不特定的经营性企业。SPAC将在设立之后，即开始通过首次公开发行（“IPO”）由普通股和认股权证组成的证券进行募资。SPAC的证券在证券交易所挂牌并公开交易。
SPAC必须在IPO完成后的18-24个月内找到目标公司（“目标公司”）并完成企业兼并，否则将主动清算，且IPO的募资将退还给公众股东。如已确定目标公司并完成企业兼并，则SPAC将与目标公司合并成立为一间新公司（“存续公司”），存续公司将成为SPAC的承继实体并继续作为上市公司存续。
2、SPAC市场